This invention relates to a storage compartment, and more particularly to a storage compartment that universally mounts to the internal support structure of an aircraft cargo bay allowing placement of the storage compartment at any location within an aircraft cargo bay regardless of the differing support structures in an aircraft.
Storage compartments are used in various applications to enclose, store, mount or support devices, objects, or things to be mounted or placed in a variety of vehicle storage locations. In applications where the storage compartment must be secured against movement, previous storage compartments suffer from the increased tooling time and labor costs required to secure the compartment against movement while the vehicle is in motion. Because support structures vary from vehicle to vehicle, model to model, or even in the same vehicle, the need to retool a particular storage compartment or create fittings to secure a particular storage compartment increases installation time and expense.
The lack of uniformity in mounting storage compartments results in a storage compartment having increased parts in order to mount the storage compartment to any location on the support structure of a vehicle without additional parts at the point of install. The differing support structures in vehicles require that storage compartments come with a vast assortment of mounting brackets and fittings, of which many will not be used, to ensure that the storage compartment will successfully mount to the vehicle support structure. Further, many applications require a record of the installation process so that it may be referenced in some point in the future. Recordation of the process, when the installation process could vary with the use of many parts, becomes a lengthy and expensive endeavor.
The above and other objects are provided by a storage compartment in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The storage compartment of the present invention universally mounts to a wide range of support structures of a commercial aircraft. As such, further design work, re-tooling, and additional parts are not required to mount the storage compartment to the support structure of an aircraft. Reduction of the aircraft vehicle design work and per aircraft parts reduces overall cost by reducing complexity and overall number of parts in tandem with a reduction in paper due to harmonization of the installation process over multiple aircraft.
The storage compartment of the present invention makes use of brackets designed to attach to the support structure of an aircraft on one end and attach to the mounting members of storage compartment on the other. Locations, where the brackets and mounting members are a secured to each other, are infinitely variable allowing the storage compartment to accommodate drastic changes in support structure shape and layout. Further, the mounting members can be secured to the storage compartment in many different ways to facilitate attaching the brackets to mounting members and aircraft support structures.
In the preferred embodiments, fans and cooling airflow openings are located at many locations on the walls of the storage compartment to facilitate cooling. Further, an interior shelf with vibration absorbing material is secured in the interior space of the storage compartment. Modules of various shape and function can be installed on the interior shelf of the storage compartment. When cooling demands of the modules necessitate more cooling, a cooling duct can be attached to the airflow openings and connected to a cooling unit in the aircraft.
In the preferred embodiments, the brackets are attached to the bottom flange of an aircraft support structure, where the support structure generally takes the shape of an I-Beam. The brackets attach to the mounting members and the bottom flange using threaded fasteners, nut plates, and radius blocks. By drilling holes in the support structure of an aircraft in anticipation of assembly, the brackets and mounting members can be assembled at the point of install in any arrangement to facilitate differing or even non-constant support structure configurations. The ability to assemble the brackets to the mounting members in many different arrangements enables the storage compartment to be mounted in many locations.